The tradition was started by Assistant Professor Julie Ellison Justice, who served as Oaks faculty director from 2015-2018. While many neighborhoods host various neighborhood dinners for their students, the Oaks tries to make theirs feel like dinner parties. Faculty and staff from across campus, as well as community members, are invited to attend and have informal conversations  regarding topics from voting to mental health to financial literacy to social media. The conversations are guided by discussion questions but also informal and resident-led, so each table has a very different conversation.

Oaks Community Director Trianne Smith said she hopes students gain new information from these dinners that they carry with them into classes and then apply to real life.

“I love when we can partner with other neighborhoods for these events,” Smith said. “The conversations are great when the students have the opportunity to mingle with others from across campus.”

In past years, the Oaks has partnered with other neighborhoods to provide different perspectives. Aside from other students, Oaks residents have spoken with local candidates running for Alamance County commissioner, Elon faculty and staff, and professionals from the Town of Elon. The opportunity to openly discuss topics and speak with experts in various areas allows students to explore new opinions and express their own.

Smith and Oaks Faculty Director Colin Donohue plan the dinners, and they work with apartment managers to compose questions for residents to use as conversation guides. The focus of the dinners keeps the neighborhood’s theme of Emerging Adulthood in mind by allowing residents to form their own opinions and see how they can use their knowledge in many ways.

“The Oaks neighborhood dinner is one of my favorite on-campus events because of how nicely it marries the intellectual and the social,” Donohue said. “It’s meant to be laid back, so that students have the opportunity to connect with faculty and staff over a meal and meaningful conversation.”

This semester, the Oaks will continue to host neighborhood dinners and Late Night Noms on various Tuesdays. But while the offerings remain the same, the events will look a little different.

“Even during this time of COVID, it’s incredibly important that we have the opportunity to build community in the Oaks and spend time with each other,” said Colin Donohue, the faculty director of the Oaks and the School of Communications director of student engagement and alumni affairs. “We want to continue to offer programs that allow our students to connect and to engage in meaningful conversation. So we will continue to offer our traditional events, with our priority being the safety of our students and the Elon community.”

More neighborhood dinners will be offered because they will not be open to the entire neighborhood. Instead, all dinners will be hosted outside and will be broken down by building in order to limit the size of the gathering to no more than 25 people. Still, the dinners will continue to be a great way to spark conversations among residents around topics related to political engagement, information literacy, financial literacy and thriving.

Oaks resident and sophomore sport management major Violet Robertson attended the neighborhood’s first dinner. She said she appreciated the precautions and the opportunity to have conversations with residents.

“The dinner was run smoothly within COVID guidelines, while still being a fun social event where we could mingle with our neighbors,” she said.

Late Night Noms will maintain their 8 p.m. start time and take a hybrid approach, combining a mix of in-person and virtual events. The first LNN of the semester allowed residents to play a game of wellness bingo entirely on Instagram. The next one allowed students to swing by the McCoy Commons patio and pick up a goodie bag.

The Oaks Neighborhood is committed to maintaining the health and safety of its community while continuing to build a sense for community focused on the neighborhood theme.

“Our goal is to keep the themes in any way we can,” said Trianne Smith, community director of the Oaks. “We are using a lot more social media this semester, hosting contests and posting information for the students. Colin and I are trying to be flexible with needing to change and maintain the Ready and Resilient guidelines.”